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DeForest Kelley
:"He's really not dead... as long as we remember him." ::– DeForest Kelley as Dr. "Bones" McCoy ( ) Jackson DeForest Kelley is famous for his role as Leonard McCoy, affectionately dubbed "Bones", on Star Trek: The Original Series. He went on to voice the character on The Animated Series and to play the character in the first six Star Trek movies. He also appeared as an aged Admiral McCoy in the Next Generation pilot episode . Footage of Kelley from was used in the Deep Space Nine episode . Biography Kelley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Having always wanted to be a doctor yet thwarted by the Great Depression, Kelley instead went into show business starting as a singer with the Lew Forbes Orchestra and in radio. In 1937 Kelley went to Long Beach, California, to stay with his uncle for two weeks. That two weeks became a year. Even after returning to Georgia, he decided that California was where he wanted to be. While living in California, Kelley joined a local theater group. There he met Carolyn Dowling, whom he would marry in 1945. A talent scout for Paramount Pictures saw Kelley in a Navy training film during World War II. This led to a screen test and a contract, starring in his first motion picture Fear in the Night. Later that same year, Kelley co-starred with such legendary entertainers as and in the musical comedy Variety Girl. Future TOS guest actor Richard Webb made an appearance as himself in this film. Kelley went on to co-star with fellow TOS performers Jeff Corey and Whit Bissell as prison escapees in the 1948 thriller Canon City. He appeared in smaller, uncredited roles in several films throughout the 1950s, most notably The Men (1950), House of Bamboo (1955, with Biff Elliot) and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956, with John Crawford and Kenneth Tobey). He did, however, have a larger, supporting role in the 1955 film noir Illegal, co-starring future Star Trek alumni Robert Ellenstein and Lawrence Dobkin. Throughout the late 1950s and the 1960s, he starred or appeared primarily in westerns. He played in the acclaimed 1957 western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in which fellow Trek alumni Whit Bissell and Kenneth Tobey also appeared. Kelley then appeared in such classic westerns as Sturges' The Law and Jack Wade (1958), Warlock (1959, with Whit Bissell, Paul Comi, Frank Gorshin, Roy Jenson, and Gary Lockwood) and Town Tamer (1965, with Richard Webb). He also co-starred in a few non-westerns during this time, including Where Love Has Gone (1964, with Whit Bissell and Anthony Caruso) and the 1965 comedy Marriage on the Rocks, starring crooners Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. During this time, he made guest appearances on a number of television series, including Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, The Untouchables and The Fugitive (in an episode with Jason Wingreen). In 1963 Kelley appeared in an episode of The Virginian with Brian Keith. This episode, entitled "Duel at Shiloh", would be editing together with another episode to produce a TV special called The Bull of the West, which aired in 1971. Later in 1963 Kelley guest-starred in a second episode of The Virginian, this time with future Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy. In 1965, Kelley was approached for a role on Star Trek, a new science fiction series created by police officer-turned-television writer Gene Roddenberry. Although Kelley was originally up for the role of, Spock, he was eventually cast as the gruff but lovable Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. While Star Trek was still in production, Kelley made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of Roddenberry's Police Story, which co-starred Steve Ihnat, Malachi Throne, and Grace Lee Whitney. (This Police Story, however, is not to be confused with a later NBC series of the same name, on which Kelley would guest star in 1973). He appeared in very few movies after being cast as Dr. McCoy; his only non-''Trek'' feature film following the cancellation of Star Trek was the 1972 horror/science fiction B-movie Night of the Lepus, co-starring Paul Fix and a group of giant, mutant rabbits. Kelley did, however, continue working in television, guest-starring on shows like Ironside and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (in an episode with the aforementioned Paul Fix). After Star Trek was resurrected as a motion picture franchise with the release of in , Kelley took on few other roles. His only non-''Trek'' role throughout the 1990s (and his final role before his death) was the voice of "Viking I" in the direct-to-video animated movie The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. Kelley retired from acting in the mid 1990s, and succumbed to stomach cancer on June 11, 1999, the first of the original Trek cast to pass on. He was survived by Carolyn Dowling, his wife of nearly 54 years, who passed away in October 2004. See also *''DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories'' *''From Sawdust to Stardust'' External links * * * - pictures, sound clips and trivia Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest Kelley, DeForest de:DeForest Kelley es:DeForest Kelley fr:DeForest Kelley nl:DeForest Kelley pl:DeForest Kelley